System and method for the rapid, automated creation of advanced composite tailored blanks

ABSTRACT

An embodiment of the present invention provides a method for manufacturing a composite preform from tape material, including feeding a tape section into a tape section guide that suspends the tape across a tooling surface, moving at least one of the tape section guide and the tooling surface relative to each other to position the tape section at a desired location and orientation relative to the tooling surface, moving the tape section toward a pre-existing tape section disposed on the tooling surface, and tacking the tape section to the pre-existing tape section. A corresponding apparatus for manufacturing composite preforms is also disclosed.

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.13/435,006, filed Mar. 30, 2012, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,414,729, which is acontinuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/251,360, filed Oct. 3,2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,168,029, which is a division of U.S.application Ser. No. 12/237,077, filed Sep. 24, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No.8,048,253, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.60/975,464, filed Sep. 26, 2007, all of which are herein incorporated byreference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to advanced composites and, moreparticularly, to a system and method for rapidly fabricatingadvanced-composite laminates with low scrap using automated equipment.

2. Background of the Invention

Advanced composite materials are increasingly used in high-performancestructural products that require low weight and high strength and/orstiffness. Composite materials are engineered materials that comprisetwo or more components. This patent relates to polymer composites thatcombine reinforcing fibers such as carbon fiber, glass fiber, or otherreinforcing fibers with a thermosetting or thermoplastic polymer resinsuch as epoxy, nylon, polyester, polypropylene, or other resins. Thefibers typically provide the stiffness and strength in the direction ofthe fiber length, and the resin provides shape and toughness andtransfers load between and among the fibers. Structural performance ofan advanced composite part increases with increased fiber-to-resin ratio(also called fiber volume fraction), increased fiber length, degree offiber orientation to line up with a part's loads (in contrast to randomfiber orientation), and the straightness of the fibers. Weight of anadvanced-composite part can also be improved by selectively adding orsubtracting material according to where it is highly and lightlystressed.

Typically, the manufacture of high-performance, advanced-composite partsis a slow and labor-intensive process. Thus, several approaches forautomating the fabrication of advanced composite parts have beendeveloped to reduce touch labor, decrease cycle time, and improve partquality and repeatability. Such machines are used to fabricate small andlarge parts ranging from entire plane fuselages to pressure vessels,pipes, blades for wind turbines, and wing skins. These machinestypically place tape material directly on a mandrel or a mold using amaterial placement head mounted on a multi-axis numerically controlledmachine. As the material is laid up, it is consolidated with anyunderlying layers. This is called “in situ” consolidation.

A different approach, described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,607,626 and6,939,423, which are herein incorporated by reference, is to lay up aflat “tailored blank” where all the plies of the composite laminate areonly tacked together. Once the tailored blank has been made, subsequentprocessing steps are used to consolidate the plies together and form theblank into its final shape.

One characteristic typical to tape and fiber placement machines is theoverall technique used to apply material to a tooling surface: machinesprogressively unroll a tape or tow material onto a tooling surface andtack it in place using one or more compaction rollers or shoes as thematerial is fed onto the surface. While this technique yields highquality parts, one main limitation is that increasing material placementspeed requires larger, higher power machines, which have a compoundingeffect on system size, energy consumption, cost, and precision. In manysystems, speed is also constrained by heat transfer, especially forthermoplastic composites that are typically melted and then refrozenduring placement.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a system and method for applyingcomposite tape material onto a tooling surface. Instead of progressivelyapplying tape to a tooling surface, the present invention feeds tapematerial of a predetermined length and locates it above the toolingsurface. The tape can be pre-cut into a tape section or can be fed froma tape supply and cut into a tape section (or course) of the desiredlength. The tape section is moved toward the tooling surface. Once nearor on the tooling surface, the entire tape section can be tacked to theunderlying material in one operation. The tacking can comprise, forexample, the fusing of the tape section to the underlying material atisolated locations using a spot welder. Separating the tape feedoperation from the tacking operation allows the system to runautomatically, faster, and more reliably.

An embodiment of the present invention comprises a system and method formaking high-performance, advanced-composite laminates by positioning oneor more tape sections over a multi-axis motion table, then lowering thetape sections onto the table and tacking them to previously laidmaterial using an array of spot welding units.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary tailored blank,according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an isometric view of anexemplary system for applying composite tape, according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a front view of the systemshown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a top view of the systemshown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a detail view of an exemplarymaterial dispensing system and tape transport rail, according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a detail view of an exemplarymaterial dispensing system and autofeed unit, according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary placement head,according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a side view of an exemplaryfeed and cutter unit with the front frame plate removed, according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 9 a and 9 b are schematic diagrams illustrating a detail view ofan exemplary tape placement head, according to an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating a detail view of anexemplary tape carriage, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating an end view of an exemplarycarriage frame, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram illustrating slotted holes in anexemplary carriage frame, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating a side view of tape passingthrough the exit of the feed and cutter unit and entering the guiderails of the carriage frame, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram illustrating a front view of an exemplarywelder frame unit, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram illustrating a front view of an exemplarysingle welder unit with a pressure foot attached, according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary configurationof an unwind and slack system, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram illustrating a detail view of a singleautofeeder unit, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram illustrating an end view of a tapesection cupping between guide rails and a lowered guide rail verticallocation relative to a tooling surface, according to an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram illustrating an end view of a tapesection being tacked to an underlying tape section, according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a schematic diagram illustrating an end view of a tapesection being removed from guide rails as the guide rails retract andthe pressure foot holds the tape section in place, according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a schematic diagram illustrating an end view of guide railsretracted and pressure foot retracted, according to an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 22 is a schematic diagram illustrating lateral movement of guiderails with an angled cutter, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 23 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary angled cutterand horizontally actuating guide rail mechanism with the cut angle inthe +45° cut position, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 24 is a schematic diagram illustrating a top view of the angledcutter and horizontally actuating guide rail mechanism of FIG. 23, withthe cut angle in the +45° cut position.

FIG. 25 is a schematic diagram illustrating a top view of the angledcutter and horizontally actuating guide rail mechanism of FIG. 23, withthe cut angle in the 0° cut position.

FIG. 26 is a schematic diagram illustrating a top view of the angledcutter and horizontally actuating guide rail mechanism of FIG. 23, withthe cut angle in the −45° cut position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the present invention provides a tape placement method.As described in detail below, the tape placement method involveslocating a material placement head above a tooling surface, feeding tapeinto a guide that holds the tape above the tooling surface, cutting thetape from the feedstock into a tape section, moving the tape sectionnear or onto the tooling surface, and then tacking the tape section toany underlying tape layers or securing the tape section to the toolingsurface.

Material

The present invention can be used to create advanced-composite preformsfrom tape material, such as preimpregnated fiber and polymer tape andpure polymer tape. Advanced composite materials contain reinforcingfibers, a polymer resin, and sometimes a core material such as foam orhoneycomb. The part is made by stacking layers of material in one ormore orientations, or ply angles. The ply angles are determined by thepart's load requirements. Typically, the material that comprises thelaminate will be a preimpregnated tape containing reinforcing fiber anda polymer resin. However, unreinforced polymer tape, core material, orother materials such as a metallic film could be included in thelaminate based on the requirements of the application.

The reinforcing fibers can be made from, for example, carbon, glass,basalt, aramid, polyethylene, or any other reinforcement. Like string,rope, hair, or other fibers, reinforcing fibers used in polymercomposites add strength and stiffness to a part along the direction ofthe fiber length. The fibers are preferably continuous or nearcontinuous in length and aligned parallel with the tape length (orlongitudinal axis of the tape), but no specific reinforcement formatwithin the tape is required for the invention to be practiced. Thepolymer resin can be thermoplastic (for example, polyamide,polyphenylene sulfide) or thermosetting (for example, epoxy, vinylester, or polyester). As with most polymer composite applications, thespecific resin and fibers used and their proportion and format withinthe composite are determined by the specific requirements of the part tobe manufactured.

Process

The present invention can be used to create a laminate comprisingmultiple plies of tape material. Each ply contains one or more sectionsof tape (also called courses) placed parallel to each other, and eachply is fused to one or more underlying plies. The shape of each ply andthe orientation, or angle, of the fibers in the ply relative to fibersin other plies in the laminate are chosen such that the final producedpart will have the desired structural characteristics. The first step ofthe method used to fabricate a tailored blank is to feed tape materialof a specified length from a spool into a tape section positioningsystem that suspends the tape above the tooling surface upon which thetape will be placed. The second step, which could occur concurrentlywith step one, involves positioning the tape section relative to thetool such that when the tape section is lowered onto the tool, it is inthe correct position and orientation for the part. In the third step,the guide lowers the tape section and the section is either tacked tounderlying material or secured to the tooling surface. Any material thatdirectly touches the tooling surface can be secured to the tool usingtechniques (e.g., vacuum) that may differ from the methods used to tacktape layers to each other. Once the section of material has been securedto underlying material or to the tooling surface, the tape sectionlocating system and tacking system return to their starting positionsand a new section of material is fed into the guide and the process isready to be repeated until the blank is complete.

Several variations or embodiments of this overall processing methodcould be employed. Though the process is described here as a series ofsequential steps, embodiments of this method could execute these stepssimultaneously to reduce overall processing time. For example, movingthe tape section locating system and/or the tool into position couldoccur while the guide is raising and/or lowering and/or while the tapeis being fed into the guide. Also, embodiments of this method couldplace more than one section at a time by incorporating additionalplacement heads into the machine. Thus, nothing in this descriptionshould imply that sections necessarily be placed one at a time. Specificembodiments of the method could include the capability to place varyingwidths or multiple materials in a single blank.

In addition, alternate embodiments of this invention could involveplacing tape sections that have been pre-cut rather than cutting thetape after it has been fed into the guide rails. Staging pre-cut tapebefore the guide rails could speed up the operation of the machine sincethe cut operation would be removed from the critical path in the orderof machine operation. The tape sections could be pre-cut in line withthe feed and placement, or the tape sections could be pre-cut off-lineand staged as a kit to be fed into the guide rails.

The method used to tack plies together and the degree to which they aretacked is another parameter that could vary in different embodiments.Methods for tacking the courses to underlying plies could includecontact heating, ultrasonic welding, induction welding, laser heating,hot gasses, or other methods of adhering plies to each other. Also, themethod could be used with an articulating head or a moving toolingsurface, or a combination of the two positioning approaches. Although anembodiment described herein uses a fixed material placement head that ispositioned over a flat tooling surface that can move in the x and ydirections as well as rotate, the relative motion between the placementhead and the tooling surface could also be achieved by moving theplacement head or a combination of the two.

Implementation of the Invention

A specific implementation of the present invention is depicted in FIGS.1-16. This exemplary system comprises a material dispensing system 1,tape transport rails 2, a placement head 3, a vacuum table 4 that servesas the blank tooling surface, a 3-axis motion table 5, and a structuralbeam 6. The placement head 3 and tape transport rails 2 are affixed tothe structural beam and positioned over the motion table 5 and vacuumtable 4. Additional support systems are depicted and include an operatorinterface computer 7, an electronics control cabinets 8, a vacuum pump9, and perimeter safety guarding 10.

As shown, for example, in FIGS. 5, 6, 16, and 17, the materialdispensing system 1, also called a creel rack, contains one or morecreel boxes 35 that contain tape unspooler mechanisms 11. In thissystem, a roll of tape 47 is loaded onto a spindle 12 and secured inplace. Spool guards 13 are put in place to keep the tape fromunraveling. The end of the tape is then fed around a first guide roller48 between feed rollers 15 in a creel feed mechanism 14 and past asecond guide roller 49. Then one coil of the tape is looped around theentire spool, fed around an additional set of guide rollers 16 withinthe creel feed mechanism, and out to the auto feeder unit 17. Once thetape is fed into the autofeeder unit, the autofeeder pinch rollers 18engage and feed the tape through a feed guide 19 (see, for example, FIG.17) and across the tape transport rails and into the tape placement head3. Once the tape passes through feed rollers 23 in the tape placementhead, these rollers 23 engage and the rollers 18 in the autofeederdisengage.

As shown in FIG. 7, the tape placement head 3 has three subsystems: atape feed and cutter unit 20, a welding unit 21, and a tape carriageunit 22. Tape enters through the tape feed and cutter unit 20 andthrough a set of driven feed rollers 23. As shown, for example, in FIGS.8-10, the feed rollers 23 pinch the tape and push it past an adjustabletape alignment plate 44, through a tape-cutting unit 24, and into guiderails 25 that are part of the tape carriage unit 22. Tape is fed throughthe guide rails 25 until the distance between the tape end and thecutter blade 45 equals the desired strip length 26. Once this point hasbeen reached, the pinch roller stops feeding tape and the cutter unitcuts the tape. This leaves a section of tape 27 of a known lengthsuspended between guide rails 25.

In the feed and cutter unit depicted in FIG. 8, the cutter unit 24comprises a blade and anvil between which the feed unit feeds the tapeand whose movement is controlled such that when the blade shears pastthe anvil, the tape is cut into a tape section. Alternate cutterembodiments could also be used, including, for example, a rotary knifecutter, an ultrasonic knife, or a laser that could traverse a pathacross the width of the tape to cut it. With a traversing cutter, orsimilar device, the cut line could also be nonlinear, for example,curved or jagged.

The guide rails 25 are part of the tape carriage unit 22. In thisembodiment, the system comprises two substantially parallel guide rails25 that are each attached to a set of carriage frames 28. There is oneguide rail and one carriage frame for each edge of the tape. Eachcarriage frame is affixed to the main welder frame 29 via linear slides30 and a linear actuator 31. As shown in FIG. 12, slotted attachmentholes 42 in the horizontal portion 43 of the carriage frame allow thedistance of the guides from centerline of the tape 48 to be adjusted.

In this embodiment, the tape section is held between the guide rails bygrooves in the guide rails in which the edges of the tape rest. Tapethat has a certain degree of transverse stiffness (i.e., stiffnessacross the width of the tape section) stays in place just by resting onthe grooves. For tape with insufficient transverse stiffness to stay inthe grooves, the guide rails can be moved closer together such that thetape is squeezed and becomes cupped with the center of the tape higherthan its edges. The cupped shape provides additional transversestiffness to the tape section, allowing it to be held by the guide.

FIGS. 18-21 illustrate an exemplary system and method for handling,placing, and tacking a tape section 56 to an underlying tape section. Inthis example, the tape section 56 has insufficient transverse stiffnessto remain in the grooves simply by resting on top of the lower surfaceof the grooves in the guide rails 25. Therefore, the guide rails 25 areclose together such that edges of the tape section 56 are squeezed bythe vertical walls of the grooves, causing the tape section 56 to becomecupped with the center of the tape section higher than its edges 53, asillustrated in FIG. 18. In other words, the width of the tape section 56is convex with respect to horizontal in FIG. 18. The cupped shapeprovides additional transverse stiffness to the tape section, allowingit to be held by the guide rails 25.

With the tape section 56 within the guide rails 25, the guide rails 25lower to a point just above the tooling surface 4, as illustrated inFIG. 18. Next, as illustrated in FIG. 19, one or more pressure feet 54lower to press the tape section 56 to the underlying material. In thepresent embodiment of the invention, the welder tips 46 themselves serveas pressure feet in addition to the dedicated pressure feet 33 that havealso been described. Alternatively, the welder tips and pressure feetcan be a single integrated device. With the tape in place and the weldertips lowered, the tape section is then tack welded to any underlyingmaterial. In some cases, the tape section will directly contact thetooling surface and in other cases it will contact previously placedtape sections 55. If the tape section underneath a welder tip isdirectly touching the tooling surface, then that welder does notenergize, since that portion of the tape section is secured to thetable, for example, with vacuum.

Once the welds have been made, as illustrated in FIG. 20, the guiderails 25 rise up with the pressure feet still pressing on the tape. Thiscauses the tape edges to slip out of the grooves of the guide rails 25,releasing the tape section 56 from the guide rails 25. Then, asillustrated in FIG. 21, the pressure feet retract, leaving the tapesection 56 secured in place on the tooling surface 4.

The vacuum table 4 serves as the tooling surface upon which the part isbuilt up. The vacuum table is attached to a three-axis motion platform 5that precisely positions the vacuum table under the placement head.Instructions from an off-line program determine the length of tape andits position and orientation on the table. While the tape is being fedinto the guide rails 25, the motion platform 5 moves the vacuum tableunder the placement head to the desired x-axis, y-axis, and rotary anglecoordinates.

When the tape has been fed into the guide rails 25 and cut from the rollinto a section, and the vacuum table 4 has been positioned in thedesired location, the carriage frames 28 lower until the tape section isnearly touching a previously laid ply or the tooling surface. Then anarray of one or more welder units 32—six welder units are illustrated inFIGS. 2, 4, and 7—lowers from the welding unit 21 and presses thesection of tape onto the tool. In addition to the welder tip 46, apressure foot 33 is attached to each welder actuator (see, for example,FIGS. 14 and 15). This pressure foot also presses down on the tape tohold it in place until it has been tacked to the underlying material.

At this point, the tape under each welder tip is either directlycontacting the vacuum table 4, which is the tooling surface, or isresting on top of previously placed material. In the first condition,the tape section is held in place by the table's vacuum. In the secondcase, the welder will turn on and tack the top layer of tape to theunderlying material. In an embodiment of the invention, the welders usean ultrasonic impulse to create a weld.

When the welding/tacking step is complete, the welder units remain incontact with the tape and the carriage frame begins to lift up andreturn to its load position. Since the center of the tape remainssecured to the tool and pinned down by the welder units, this causes theedges of the tape to slide out of the guide rails 25. Once the tapeedges are free of the guide rails 25, the welder units retract, leavingthe tape section in place on the vacuum table tooling surface.

This procedure is repeated for each section of material that willcomprise the blank. After the final tape section has been placed, thetable vacuum is turned off, which allows the part to be removed easilyfrom the table.

For the placement head 3 to feed tape quickly into the guide rails 25,the tape preferably has very low back tension. Without active tensioncontrol, the inertia of the spool of material could resist the rapidacceleration and deceleration of the tape as the feed rollers push tapeinto position. Thus, as shown in FIG. 16, the material dispensing system1 actively unspools the material roll so that it puts slack in the finalloop of material 34 within the creel box 35. The amount of slack isdetermined by the length of the tape section to be placed. This slackloop leaves very little back tension in the tape and allows theplacement head to feed material very quickly. Sensors within the creelbox 36 inform the control system if the slack loop is getting too smallor too large.

The pinch roller can feed tape from a spool into a slack coil of tapewithin a creel box and can be configured to maintain the slack loop sizeto within a determined range using feedback by one or more slack loopposition sensors. Maintaining slack at the end of a tape spool reducesback tension in the tape as the tape feeds. Actively uncoiling the tapespools of the tape supply unit minimizes tape tension between the tapefeed unit and the tape spools.

During operation, several events can interrupt the normal sequence ofactions. Several sensors are put in place to flag such events and tohandle them. One event is the feed roller failing to feed the correctamount of tape. This has been addressed by incorporating an encoderwheel 37 (FIGS. 9 a and 9 b) that measures how much tape is being fed.If the measured feed length does not agree within a certain tolerance tothe desired feed length, then corrective action is taken.

The system also senses when the end of the roll of material has beenreached. When the end of the roll is reached, a sensor 38 (FIG. 17) inthe autofeeder unit 17 detects the end of the tape. The system continuesto feed the tape until a second material detection sensor 39 (FIG. 8) atthe entrance to the placement head 3 detects the tape end. When the tapeend passes this point, the feed roller stops and a redirect plate 40within the placement head is engaged, pushing the tape end downward. Themotion platform then moves the vacuum table out from under the placementhead and the feed roller 23 reverses its motion and thereby feeds thefinal strip of tape into a catch basin 41. Then, if the second creel boxis loaded with the same tape, the system can run the autofeeder to loadthe placement head with new material and operation can continue withoutfurther delay.

The second creel box can be used for more than one purpose. If thetailored blank includes more than one type of tape material (forexample, glass fiber tape and carbon fiber tape), then the creel boxescould be loaded with different materials. Then, the placement head wouldbe able to lay up two types of material without having to be reloadedmanually. Rather, the pinch rollers in the autofeed unit of one creelbox could retract tape a sufficient distance so that tape from the othercreel box can be fed into the placement head.

In the embodiment described herein, the machine can be set up to processdifferent tape widths. To change widths of tape to process, adjustmentis made to the creel boxes so that the centerline of the tape roll isaligned with the centerline of the welder tips. The distances betweenthe guide edges of the feed guides, tape transport rails, and carriageframe are then widened or narrowed to accommodate the desired tapewidth. In one embodiment, the adjustments are made manually. Anotherembodiment employs automatic width adjustment. This automatic adjustmentcan speed the setting up of the equipment to run different widths ofmaterial and it can allow multiple tape widths to be laid up in a singleblank without having to stop and adjust the equipment.

An alternative embodiment of the present invention adds the ability tocut tape so that the cut edge is not always perpendicular to the sidesof the tape. Adding the ability to vary the cut angle can give tailoredblanks more degrees of freedom that can in turn lead to improved blankperformance. An exemplary angled cutting system is illustrated in FIGS.22-26, according to an embodiment of the present invention. In thissystem, cutter unit 50 rotates about its center and guide rails 51 eachmove forward and backward to maintain a close distance between the cutedge 52 of the tape section 26 and the guide rails 51. In the embodimentdepicted, the horizontal movement is achieved by adding horizontallyoriented linear slides 57 and actuators to the welder frame 59 uponwhich the vertically oriented linear slides 58 and actuators aremounted. When the cutter unit rotates to a specified angle (the systemconfiguration at three different angles are depicted in FIGS. 24-26),one side of the cutter moves toward the guide rails and the other sidemoves away from the guide rails. This movement can be matched by theguide rails to maintain a minimum gap between the cutter and the rails.Maintaining a minimal gap ensures that only a small portion of the tapesection overhangs the guide rails, and prevents the end of the tapesection from sagging off the end of the guide rails and hindering thehandling of the tape section.

Another variant of the system described includes a carriage system thatmoves the guide rails not only vertically, but also horizontally alongthe tape feed direction. This movement allows more precise positioningof the tape relative to the welder heads, and it allows for courses tobe placed that are shorter than the distance between the cutter bladeand the first welder head. After the cutter cuts a tape section, and thetape is within the guide rails, the carriage moves horizontally awayfrom the cutter and lowers toward the tooling surface to deposit thetape section. Lateral guide rail movement is thus included as anindependent concept, though it may also be a feature of the angledcutting system.

In an embodiment of the present invention, either or both of the toolingsurface and guide rails move to provide relative displacement withrespect to each other. Such movement can be in any direction, such ushorizontal, vertical, or combinations thereof, and can include movementssuch as translational, rotational, or pivotal movements.

As one of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate, the guide railsdescribed herein are only one of many means that could be used forsuspending the tape above the tooling surface and positioning the tapeonce it has been fed and cut. Other methods that use vacuum to suspendthe tape above the tooling surface, trays that release the tape byincreasing the distance between the guide rails, retractable trays, orother mechanisms may be employed.

The foregoing disclosure of the preferred embodiments of the presentinvention has been presented for purposes of illustration anddescription. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit theinvention to the precise forms disclosed. Many variations andmodifications of the embodiments described herein will be apparent toone of ordinary skill in the art in light of the above disclosure. Thescope of the invention is to be defined only by the claims appendedhereto, and by their equivalents.

Further, in describing representative embodiments of the presentinvention, the specification may have presented the method and/orprocess of the present invention as a particular sequence of steps.However, to the extent that the method or process does not rely on theparticular order of steps set forth herein, the method or process shouldnot be limited to the particular sequence of steps described. As one ofordinary skill in the art would appreciate, other sequences of steps maybe possible. Therefore, the particular order of the steps set forth inthe specification should not be construed as limitations on the claims.In addition, the claims directed to the method and/or process of thepresent invention should not be limited to the performance of theirsteps in the order written, and one skilled in the art can readilyappreciate that the sequences may be varied and still remain within thespirit and scope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for manufacturing a composite preformout of tape material, the method comprising: receiving a composite tapesection cut and separated from a composite tape supply; holding thecomposite tape section across a tooling surface; moving at least one ofthe composite tape section and the tooling surface to position thecomposite tape section at a desired location and angle relative to thetooling surface, and near a pre-existing composite tape section disposedon the tooling surface; pressing a first portion of the composite tapesection to the pre-existing composite tape section; and tacking thefirst portion of the composite tape section to the pre-existingcomposite tape section, and leaving a second portion of the compositetape section that remains untacked after lay up of the compositepreform.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein holding thecomposite tape section across the tooling surface comprises using vacuumto hold the composite tape section above the tooling surface.
 3. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein holding the composite tape sectionacross the tooling surface comprises holding the composite tape sectionin a tray having two or more substantially parallel grooved guide railspositioned relative to each other such that when the composite tapesection is fed into the guide rails, opposing longitudinal edges of thecomposite tape section are held in grooves of the guide rails, with amiddle longitudinal portion of the composite tape section unsupported,and wherein the method further comprises releasing the composite tapesection by increasing the distance between guide rails of the tray. 4.The method according to claim 1, wherein holding the composite tapesection across the tooling surface comprises using a retractable tray.5. The method according to claim 1, wherein tacking the first portion ofthe composite tape section comprises simultaneously pressing and tackingmultiple isolated locations of the composite tape section in oneoperation, and wherein a welding tip is used at each of the multipleisolated locations to simultaneously press and tack the each of themultiple isolated locations.
 6. The method according to claim 1, whereintacking the first portion of the composite tape section comprises atleast one of contact heating, ultrasonic welding, induction welding,laser heating, and hot gas application.
 7. The method according to claim1, wherein moving at least one of the composite tape section and thetooling surface comprises moving at least one of the tooling surface andan articulating placement head holding the composite tape section. 8.The method according to claim 1, wherein the composite tape sectioncomprises a first composite tape section and the method furthercomprises: simultaneously holding the first composite tape sectionacross the tooling surface in a first placement head and a secondcomposite tape section across the tooling surface in a second placementhead; simultaneously moving at least one of the first placement head andthe tooling surface to position the first composite tape section and atleast one of the second placement head and the tooling surface toposition the second composite tape section; pressing a first portion ofthe second composite tape section to the pre-existing composite tapesection; and tacking the first portion of the second composite tapesection to the pre-existing composite tape section, and leaving a secondportion of the second composite tape section that remains untacked afterlay up of the composite preform.
 9. The method according to claim 1,further comprising receiving the composite tape section in a tapesection guide, wherein the first portion is unsupported by the tapesection guide.
 10. The method according to claim 1, further comprisingreceiving the composite tape section in a tape section guide, holdingthe composite tape section in the tape section guide across the toolingsurface, pressing the first portion of the composite tape sectionthrough an opening defined by the tape section guide and to thepre-existing composite tape section, tacking the first portion of thecomposite tape section through the opening defined by the tape sectionguide and against the pre-existing composite tape section, and movingthe tape section guide away from the tooling surface while pressing thefirst portion to release the composite tape section from the tapesection guide.
 11. The method according to claim 1, wherein holding thecomposite tape section comprises holding only the second portion of thecomposite tape section.
 12. The method according to claim 1, furthercomprising tacking multiple composite tape sections each to apre-existing composite tape section and after all composite tapesections are tacked, consolidating the composite tape sections together.13. A method for manufacturing a composite preform out of tape material,the method comprising: holding a composite tape section across a toolingsurface, wherein the composite tape section extends longitudinally froma first free end to a second free end; moving at least one of thecomposite tape section and the tooling surface to position the compositetape section at a desired position relative to a pre-existing compositetape section disposed on the tooling surface; pressing a first portionof the composite tape section to the pre-existing composite tapesection; and tacking the first portion of the composite tape section tothe pre-existing composite tape section, and leaving a second portion ofthe composite tape section that remains untacked after lay up of thecomposite preform.
 14. The method according to claim 13, wherein holdingthe composite tape section comprises holding the composite tape sectionin a tape section guide that defines an opening, wherein pressing andtacking the first portion of the composite tape section comprisespressing the first portion through the opening and tacking the firstportion to the pre-existing composite tape section, and wherein themethod further comprises moving the tape section guide away from thetooling surface while pressing the first portion of the composite tapesection to release the composite tape section from the tape sectionguide.
 15. The method according to claim 13, wherein holding thecomposite tape section comprises holding the composite tape section in atape section guide comprising two or more substantially parallel groovedrails connected to a carriage and positioned relative to each other suchthat when the composite tape section is fed into the grooved rails,opposing longitudinal edges of the composite tape section are held ingrooves of the grooved rails, with the first portion unsupported by thetape section guide, and wherein the method further comprises releasingthe composite tape section from the tape section guide by at least oneof: (i) pressing the composite tape section while moving the tapesection guide away from the tooling surface, and (ii) increasing thedistance between the grooved rails.
 16. The method according to claim13, wherein holding the composite tape section across the toolingsurface comprises using vacuum to hold the composite tape section abovethe tooling surface.
 17. The method according to claim 13, whereinholding the composite tape section comprises holding the composite tapesection at a position generally parallel to the tooling surface with thefirst end and the second end generally equidistant from the toolingsurface, wherein while moving the at least one of the composite tapesection and the tooling surface, the composite tape section ismaintained generally parallel to the tooling surface, and wherein thedesired position is one of near the pre-existing composite tape sectionand in contact with the pre-existing composite tape section.
 18. Themethod according to claim 13, wherein the first free end and the secondfree end of the composite tape section are maintained substantiallyequidistant from the pre-existing composite tape section as thecomposite tape section is moved into position for pressing and tackingof the first portion of the composite tape section.
 19. A method formanufacturing a composite preform out of tape material, the methodcomprising: holding a composite tape section across a tooling surface,wherein the composite tape section extends longitudinally from a firstfree end to a second free end; moving at least one of the composite tapesection and the tooling surface to position the first free end and thesecond free end of the composite tape section at desired positionsrelative to a pre-existing composite tape section disposed on thetooling surface; pressing a portion of the composite tape section to thepre-existing composite tape section; and tacking the portion of thecomposite tape section to the pre-existing composite tape section, andleaving a remainder of the composite tape section that remains untackedafter the composite preform is complete and until consolidation of thecomplete composite preform.
 20. The method according to claim 19,wherein pressing and tacking the portion of the composite tape sectioncomprises simultaneously pressing and tacking in one operation multipleisolated locations of the portion of the composite tape section in adirection longitudinally along the composite tape section from the firstfree end to the second free end, and wherein a welding tip is used ateach of the multiple isolated locations to simultaneously press and tackthe each of the multiple isolated locations.
 21. The method according toclaim 19, wherein holding the composite tape section comprises holdingthe composite tape section by one of a vacuum placement head and a tapesection guide that defines an opening through which the composite tapesection may be pressed and tacked.
 22. The method according to claim 1,wherein in pressing the first portion of the composite tape section tothe pre-existing composite tape section, the second portion of thecomposite tape section remains unpressed through completion of lay up ofthe composite tape section.
 23. The method according to claim 13,wherein in pressing the first portion of the composite tape section tothe pre-existing composite tape section, the second portion of thecomposite tape section remains unpressed through completion of lay up ofthe composite tape section.
 24. The method according to claim 19,wherein pressing the portion of the composite tape section to thepre-existing composite tape section comprises pressing the portion ofthe composite tape section to the pre-existing composite tape section,and leaving the remainder of the composite tape section unpressedthrough completion of lay up of the composite tape section.
 25. Themethod according to claim 1, further comprising pressing a portion ofthe second portion of the composite tape section with a pressure footwhile tacking the first portion of the composite tape section.